Knitting machine



Mgrch 8, 1938. H. H. HOLMES E'II AL KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l gljgrulk INVENTORS Hussy Huron Haunts Ind Eowm J'onu Houncs March 8, 1938. H. H. HOLMES ET AL 2,110,767

KNITTING MACHINE n Filed Oct. 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 8, 1938 1 UNITED STATES KNITTING MACHINE .Henry Harold Holmes and Edwin John Holmes, Leicester, England, assignors to Wildt and Company Limited, Leicester, England, a British company Application October 22, 1930,. Serial No. 101,000

In Great Britain February 12, 1936 15 Claims.

This invention consists in improvements in or relating to knitting machines and is applied to a machine for knitting a fabric having a ladderproof character produced by the introduction of 5 wrap threads in addition to ground thread.

Such fabrics are of the nature described for instance in the specifications of prior British Letters Patent Nos. 327,958, 327,988, and 376,736 and in the specification-of United States prior Letters Patent No. 1,965,873. An example of the type of machine to which the present invention is applied is described in the specification of prior British Letters Patent No- 364,039 and in prior United States Letters Patent .No. 2,017,718, and

hereinafter where reference is made to a knitting machine of the type specified it is to be understood asapplying to a knitting machine'having means to feed ground and wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread measuring. or

draw-off device by which foreach wrapping and/ or loop forming operation lengths of. thread will be drawn from the wrap thread supplies by means which are additional to the wrap thread feeders. 7

It is found that when a wrap thread draw-off device is employed similar to member 34 or members 35, 36 of prior British Letters Patent No. 1 364,039, or cam 31 of prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,017,718, there is, a tendency, owing to the frictional resistance offered to the wrap threads as they pass over the surface of such member, to crowd the threads together and thus to tend to militate against thesuccessful wrapping under uniform tension at all times of the wrap threads round their needles.

An object of the present invention is to overcome this difficulty and accordingly a wrap thread measuring or draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating aboutan axis which extends in the general lengthwise dir ction of the needles and is substantially parallel to the surface ofthe needle bed;

The invention is not to be deemed, however, to be avoided by aconstruction in which the axis of the rotating body is inclined with respect to the needle lengths and/or the needle bed just referred to.

Preferably, the rotating member is in the form of a disc which has a smooth edge and rotates about an axis that is so situated relatively to the needle bed that it will serve the purpose of drawing off successively from each wrap thread supply lengths of wrap thread suflicient for wrapping and/or loop formation.

55 When applied to a circular knitting machine,

the rotating draw-off member is conveniently of I a diameter less than that of the needle cylinder and the axis of the draw-off member is so situqo ated that a portion of its periphery will extend radially beyond the periphery of the needle cylinder.

Conveniently, the dimension and position of the rotating member are such that by engagement of the edge of the latter with the wrap threads it will draw of! from each wrap thread supply a length sufiicient not only for wrapping but also for loop formation. The rotating member engages the wrap threads for this purpose immediately prior to the manipulation of the wrap thread feeders for wrapping the threads ,round the needles, and after the threads have passed from engagement with the rotating member and while thestrrap thread feeders are operated, a shaped arid fixed cam-like element will engage the threads and will accommodate the surplus length thereof that is not required for wra'ppingbut which. will later be required for loop formation. Alternatively, this cam may be replaced by another rotating member such as a disc, the periphery of which engages the wrap threads in a manner similar to that of the rotating member or disc above described.

The use of rotating or disc-like members in preference to fixed cams results in preventing the wrap threads from crowding together as they pass over the edge thereof. This is attributable to the fact that the discsor the like freely rotate on their axes and thus offer less frictional resistance to the threads. When the wrapping operation has been completed the threads will be released from the second member above mentioned, cam, an the surplus or slack yarn may then be taken up by any desired form of take-up means generally situated above the needle cylinder and serving to hold that surplus in readiness for loop formation.

. Another fixed or adjustable member pressing on the wrap threads will also preferably be provided in requisite relationship with the stitch cam so that as the needles are retracted to draw their loops for stitch formation the wrap threads will be pressed outwardly again for the purpose described in prior United States patent specification No. 2,053,477 in order that they will be correctly positioned to ensure accurate plating of the wrap threads on the inner surface of the fabric.

matic of part of a circular knitting machine sufficient to show the relative positions of the parts constituting the subject-matter of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view showing the rotating discs and fixed cam on an enlarged scale, and

hether it is a fixed cam or a rotating Figure 3, drawn to the same scale as Figure 2, is an elevation of the parts shown in the latter figure.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In the drawings, the needle cylinder is indicated at I0 and a dial is shown at I I in which wrap thread feeders I2 are received for guiding wrap threads I3 to the needles I4. The feeders are actuated by cams, one of which is shown at I5, contained in the dial cam plate III and by which they are moved inwardly and outwardly and for passing the feeder across from one side to the other of a needle it will be understood that a cam similar to cam 36 of prior British Patent No. 364,039 will be employed. This cam, however, in order to avoid complicating the present drawings has not been shown.

For each ground thread feed there will be provided two freely rotatable cams I6 and I I mounted in pivot bearings between the jaws of forked arms I8 and I9 respectively. The latter are supported on a lower member 26 carried by brackets 2| secured to the dial cam plate. The elements I6 and I1 are in the form of thin spoked wheels as illustrated and their peripheries are rounded so that they will engage smoothly with the wrap threads I3 without damaging the latter.

In Figure 1 the wrap threads are shown as each passing through an orifice in a thread guiding ring 22 situated at a level above the wheels 16 and I1 and a thread I3 is shown in dotted lines in the position itwill assume when it is not engaged by wheels I6 and H or a fixed cam 23 to be described later. The disposition of the wheels the stitch cam 24 diagrammatically shown in Figure 3. At this time a plating cam rise 25 sitand wheel I6 will hold the wrap threads under;

tension to effect accurate plating in the manner described in the prior patent just mentioned.

The needles are next raised to the upper level of cam 240 and during the first part of this movement, i.'e. just subsequent to stitch formation, control is kept upon the wrap threads, by the wheel I6; due to the peripheral rise between lines W--W and H. This ensures correct placing of the wrap loop behind the ground loop. The wrap threads now leave wheel I6 and are brought into the dotted line position of Figure l by the before-mentioned take-ups. A portion of one such take-up is shown at I22 in Figure 1.

The wrap threads next encounter wheel I! by which they are drawn from the supply, enough being drawn for both wrapping and stitch forming. Cam 23 is provided in order that the drawn oil yarn while wrapping is being performed is held under the requisite control, assisted by spring take-ups if desired. The latter are well known elements in a knitting machine of this character and will require no further description.

The wrapping cam I6 by. which the yarn feeders are moved radially inwardly and outwardly --W will have moved the wrapis shown in Figure 2 and by referring to this figure it will be seen that as the feeders are withdrawn inwardly the wrap threads will be commencing to descend the sharply sloping side of cam 23 on the left of line 'X X the take-ups meantime acting to keep slight tension on the wrap threads. They continue after wrapping to pass further down this slope and the needles thereafter commence to descend the stitch cam until ultimately the feeders are again operated by the plating cam 25 on the left of line X-X.

It will be seen, therefore, that the present invention consists primarily in the replacement of certain of the fixed draw-oil. or measuring cams of the previous construction by rotating cams I6 and I1 above described. The cam 23 could also be replaced if preferred by a rotating cam but owing to the desirability of enabling the threads to pass rapidly down the releasing face of the cam a shaped fixed cam is preferable to a rotating cam.

In order to provide for accurate adjustment of the lengths of wrap threads to be drawn by wheels I6 and I1, each of such wheels is adjustable bodily towards and away from the axis of the machine by means of the forked arms or brackets I8 and I9. The latter are plvotally mounted-on pins 26 and 21, respectively, and tail portions 28 and 29 of the brackets are engaged by set screws 30 and 3i passing through lugs 32 and 33. The tail ends of the brackets are held firmly against their set screws by means of tension springs 34 and 35, each of which is anchored at one end to the tail of the bracket and at the other end to Harmon-as 3s and 31.

By means of the set screws, a fine and accurate bodily adjustment of wheels such as I6 and I1 towards. and away from the axis of the machine is obtainable.

The wheels such as I6 and H are illustrative only of rotating elements suitable for the present invention and are to be understood as representing any form of rotatable cam which may be preferred not necessarily of the precise shape and formation illustrated herein;

We claim:

-1. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating about an axis which is spaced from and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needle and is also substantially parallel to the surface of the needle bed.

2. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a disc which rotates about an axis that is spaced from'and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and is so situated relatively to the needle bed that the disc will serve to draw oif successively from each wrap thread supply lengths of wrap thread suflicient for wrapping the needles.

3. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement 1 in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads, and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a disc which rotates about an axis that is spaced from and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and is so situated relatively to the needle bed that the disc will serve to draw ofi successively from each wrap thread supply lengths of wrap thread sufficient for loop formation.

4. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relatively movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a disc which rotates about an axis that is spaced from and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and is so situated relatively to the needle bed that the disc will serve to draw ofl successively from each wrap thread supply lengths of wrap thread sufllcient for wrapping and loop formation.

5. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-oil! member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a body which rotates about an axis that is spaced from and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needles and is substantially parallel to the surface of the needle bed, said rotatable body having a diameter less than that of the needle cylinder and having its axis so situated that a portion of its periphery will extend radially-beyond, the periphery of the needle cylinder. i

6. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating about an axis which extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needles and is also substantially parallel to the surface of the needle bed, and a second rotating wrap .thread engaging member serving to press against. the wrap threads to hold them towards the fronts-of the needle hooks during loop formation.

'7. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-oil member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads, and wherein the draw-oil member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating about an axis which extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needle and is also sub-,.

stantially parallel to the surface of the needle bed and in addition a fixed wrap thread engaging cam onto a sloping surface of which the wrap threads are delivered to travel along that surface after they are released from the rotating draw ofl member.

8. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths ofthe threads and wherein the draw-off member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating about an axis which extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needles and is also substantially parallel to the surface of the needle bed, and a second rotating wrap thread engaging member serving to press against the 9. For a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-off member between which and the wrap threads there is relative movement in a direction transverse to the lengths of the threads, and wherein the draw-oil member comprises the curved periphery of a body rotating about an axis which is spaced from and is non-coincident with the axis of the machine and extends in the general lengthwise direction of the needles and is also substantially parallel with the surface of the needle bed, and a bracket which supports the draw-off member and is bodily adjustable for the purpose of adjusting the length of thread drawn off at each operation.

10. For a knitting machine, the combination of parts according to claim 9, in which combination the bracket is pivotally mounted to enable it to be swung outwardly and inwardly with respect to the needle bed.

11. For a knitting machine, the combination of parts according to claim 9, in which combination the bracket is pivotally mounted to enable it to be swung outwardly and inwardly with respect to the needle bed, in combination with an adjustable setting device for operating with the bracket.

12. For a knitting machine, the combination of parts according to claim 9, in which combination the bracket is pivotally mounted to enable it to be swung outwardly and inwardly with respect to the needle bed, in combination with a set screw to engage a portion of the bracket.

13. For a knitting machine, the combination of parts according to claim 9, in which combination the bracket is pivotally mounted to enable it to be swung outwardly and inwardly with respect to the needle bed, in combination with a set screw to engage a tail portion of the bracket.

14. In or for a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-oil? member which rotates about an axis that is spaced from and is non-coincident with that of the machine and comprises the curved periphery of a rotating body between which and the wrap threads there is relative rotation transverse to the lengths of the wrap threads.

15. In or for a knitting machine, the combination of means to supply wrap threads to the needles and a wrap thread draw-oil member comprising the curved periphery of a rotating body which rotates about an axis that is spaced from and is non-coincident with that of the machine and between which and the wrap threads there is relative rotation transverse to the lengths of the wrap threads and which is mounted on centers or pivot bearings. 

